The Australian April 2005

And just when you thought the modern wise guy had evolved from revelling in scatological humour, Stewart Lee proved otherwise. Lee began with September 11 and five minutes later there was a sustained flatulence joke.

Trying to yoke the momentous with the ridiculous was not a promising start and it got worse. Lee's obsession with over-analysing his own (dated) material, his fondness for repetition and stretching out a simple gag to 10 minutes was a constant irritant.